Zero Knowledge

• The Quest for Practical iO with Machina iO

  In this episode, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra chat with Sora Suegami and Enrico Bottazzi from Machina iO. They explain indistinguishability obfuscation (iO) technology and how they are working to bring this powerful cryptographic primitive from theoretical territory into the practical world. They discuss how the pair got into iO and how new assumptions like all-product LWE and evasive LWE will help bridge theory to practice. They explore the benchmarks, the challenges and opportunities of this cutting-edge privacy cryptography and cover potential optimizations and real-world uses. While iO is still far from being truly practical, their work shows tangible steps ahead and offers interesting insights into how this could actually work. Related Links Indistinguishability Obfuscation (iO) with Huijia (Rachel) LinMachina iODiamond iO: A Straightforward Construction of Indistinguishability Obfuscation from LatticesCompact Pseudorandom Functional Encryption from Evasive LWEIndistinguishability Obfuscation from Well-Founded Assumptions Lookup-Table Evaluation over Key-Homomorphic Encodings and KP-ABE for Nonlinear OperationsOriginal BGG+ paper:Fully Key-Homomorphic Encryption, Arithmetic Circuit ABE, and Compact Garbled Circuits∗Gentry’s classic thesis on FHE bootstrapping:A FULLY HOMOMORPHIC ENCRYPTION SCHEMEGentry (GGH+) paper for obfuscation for all circuits:Candidate Indistinguishability Obfuscation and Functional Encryption for all circuits Optimal Broadcast Encryption and CP-ABE from Evasive Lattice AssumptionsEvasive LWE Assumptions: Definitions, Classes, and CounterexamplesLattice-Based Post-Quantum iO from Circular Security with Random Opening Assumption (Part II: zeroizing attacks against private-coin

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• Countdown to Q-Day with Project 11

  In this episode, Anna Rose chats with Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan from Project 11. They revisit the topic of quantum computing and explore the threat it poses to cryptographic systems like blockchains. As blockchain technology becomes increasingly integrated into global financial infrastructure — especially through stablecoins and banking rails — the stakes for quantum security continue to rise. Alex and Conor break down which algorithms are most at risk, why simple network upgrades won’t be enough, and what users will need to do to protect their own funds. They also outline potential mitigation strategies, including how Project 11 is approaching the challenge with post-quantum signature schemes, secure vaults, and a global namespace to coordinate user migrations ahead of “Q-Day.” The conversation also touched on how post-quantum thinking overlaps with zero-knowledge research, as hash- and lattice-based SNARKs offer resilience against future quantum attacks. Related links: Project 11Yellow PagesPQC Suite B GitHub  Securing Sui in the Quantum Computing EraQuantum resource estimation for large scale quantum algorithms: Section 5Estimating the cost of generic quantum pre-image attacks on SHA-2 and SHA-3Downtime Required for Bitcoin Quantum-Safety ZK Podcast Previous Related Episodes on the topic: Quantum Engineering with Jelena VučkovićQuantum Punks with Alex and NicolaQuantum Cryptography Part 2 with Or Sattath ZK Whiteboard Sessions is an educational video series produced by ZK Hack in collaboration with Bain Capital Crypto. It is focused on the building blocks of zero knowledge technology. Find season 3 of the Whiteboard Sessions as well as previous seasons here.  

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• Bonus: ZK Mesh and ZK Whiteboard this week!

  There is no episode this week, but we share some updates from the ZK Hack ecosystem. Sign up here for ZK Mesh and find the latest module of ZK Whiteboard Season 3 here. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon * ETH - Donation address * BTC - Donation address * SOL - Donation address

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• Kevin Lacker on AI-Assisted Theorem Proving and Acorn

  In this episode, Anna Rose and Guillermo Angeris talk with Kevin Lacker, creator of Acorn, a theorem prover utilising AI. They explore what theorem provers are, their history, and how they're used today. Kevin shares how Acorn brings in AI to simplify the proving process, letting users naturally write mathematical statements while the system checks the correctness of those statements. It's built to feel more like natural math, unlike tools like Lean that demand every step. They also explore the benefits of including AI in math, and also the challenges that come with it such as hallucinations, and how Acorn could speed up research in areas like zero-knowledge proofs. The dicussion also covers the history of mathematics, community building around Acorn and its open math library, acornlib. Related links: Guillermo’s Blog Post:Acorn and the future of (AI?) theorem provingAcorn Theorem ProverAcorn Standard Library:acornlibLean Theorem Prover ZK Whiteboard Sessions is an educational video series produced by ZK Hack. It is focused on the building blocks of zero knowledge technology. Find season 3 of the Whiteboard Sessions as well as previous seasons here. Check out the latest jobs in ZK at the ZK Podcast Jobs Board.  **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube **Support the show:** * Patreon *

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• Payy and Payy Card, the Undoxable Credit Card

  In this episode, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra catch up with Sid Gandhi and Calum Moore from Payy to discuss the Payy private payment system and the newly released Payy credit card. They explore their focus on building a user-friendly privacy focused product, how ZK tooling advancement makes this possible, and a walkthrough into how it works with the Visa remittance system. Sid and Cal explain Payy's design as a ZK Validium rollup on Polygon, using client-side proofs and a Merkle tree to ensure privacy and compliance. The discussion also delves into the history and past challenges of self-sovereign payments; how self-sovereign money goals were overshadowed by speculation, why many new stablecoin projects feel like a step back to traditional finance, and how privacy-focused payments are making a comeback in 2025.  Related links: Payy NetworkPayy WalletPayy CardZcashThe whitepaper for Payy Network The payy card launch on XPayy runner, anew way to earn payy points  ZK Whiteboard Sessions is an educational video series produced by ZK Hack. It is focused on the building blocks of zero knowledge technology. Find season 3 of the Whiteboard Sessions as well as previous seasons here. **If you like what we do:** * Find all our links here! @ZeroKnowledge | Linktree * Subscribe to our podcast newsletter * Follow us on Twitter @zeroknowledgefm * Join us on Telegram * Catch us on YouTube...

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